“I am pleased to announce that India, and the United States of America, are continuing negotiations to address the Trade Barriers between our two Nations,” Trump wrote on social media Tuesday. “I look forward to speaking with my very good friend, Prime Minister Modi, in the upcoming weeks. I feel certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our Great Countries!,” he added.

Modi responded shortly after with a post on X, saying that he was looking forward to speaking with Trump and that the U.S. and India are “close friends and natural partners.”

“I am confident that our trade negotiations will pave the way for unlocking the limitless potential of the India-U.S. partnership,” Modi said. “Our teams are working to conclude these discussions at the earliest.”

As tensions ratchet down, a team of Indian trade negotiators is discussing plans to travel to Washington in coming days, perhaps as early as next week to resume trade talks, a person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified as the details aren’t public. 

Later in the day, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said at an event that India is in active dialogue toward a trade deal with the U.S.

In order to agree a trade deal, New Delhi wants the U.S. to address the 25% reciprocal tariff on Indian exports to America and the 25% additional levy imposed as a penalty for buying Russian oil, the person said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking further information. 

Trump’s comments offering a positive appraisal of relations between Washington and New Delhi come even as the U.S. president is pressuring European Union leaders to join him in ratcheting up tariffs on India and China to punish the countries for Russian energy buys.

Trump told EU officials during a meeting earlier Tuesday that he’s prepared to join them if they impose sweeping new tariffs on India and China in a bid to raise pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to join ceasefire talks with Ukraine, according to people familiar with the discussions. The U.S. is willing to mirror tariffs imposed by Europe on either country, one of the people said.

That move threatens to further complicate efforts to resolve Trump’s trade dispute with India, exacerbated last month by the U.S. doubling the tariff rate on many goods from the country to 50% over India’s purchases of Russian oil. 

Trump appeared to soften his rhetoric on India last week, saying there was “nothing to worry about” in ties between the two countries. Officials in New Delhi said at the time they viewed the comments with caution, and would wait for more signals from the White House. 

Sonal Varma, an economist at Nomura Holdings Inc., said comments from both the leaders represent positive signals and increases the chances of India’s 50% tariff rate being lowered in coming months. 

However, Trump’s willingness to impose sweeping new tariffs on India and China for buying Russian oil “suggests that the U.S. wants the EU to initiate the next step on Russia-related pressures.” The EU and India are currently negotiating a free trade agreement, which would need to be considered in any decision around additional tariffs, she said. 

China, Russia ties

While India was one of the first countries to open talks with Trump on trade, the imposition of high levies on their exports shocked officials in New Delhi. U.S. officials have expressed frustration with India’s high levies on imports and other non-tariff barriers.

Trump hit India with a 25% rate before doubling that to address New Delhi’s continued Russian energy buys. India has assailed the tariff hikes and insisted that it will continue to buy Russian oil as long as it is financially viable. India has been the largest buyer of Russian seaborne crude as the discounted barrels have helped the world’s third largest oil consumer keep its import bill in check.

The positive signals from Trump and Modi come a week after the Indian leader’s trip to China, where he held talks with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The U.S. president had criticized the meeting at the time and said India had been “lost” to China. 

“The U.S. is India’s largest export market by a wide margin—the value of it is higher than all of the shipment to BRICS’ countries combined,” said Trinh Nguyen, senior economist at Natixis. “As such, the U.S. and India are natural trade partners given complimentary comparative advantages. Both Modi and Trump have strong reasons to mend ties.”

Temu is facing another lawsuit from a musical act alleging the online store is selling knock-offs of trademarked merchandise.

This time, the act doing the suing is Twenty One Pilots, the Grammy-winning pop duo known for hits like Stressed Out and Heathens.

In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday (September 9), lawyers for Twenty One Pilots alleged that Temu “manufactures and sells a myriad of items that are counterfeit or blatant copies of plaintiff’s artwork, trademarks, and intellectual property.”

The complaint includes dozens of side-by-side images comparing Twenty One Pilots merch available on Temu with items from the duo’s official online store. The t-shirts, tote bags, mugs, baseball caps, socks and other items on Temu often appear to be very similar or identical to the official merch, but are listed at far lower prices.

The lawsuit was brought by a legal team that includes Jeff Gluck, a lawyer who is also involved in the lawsuit against Temu brought last month by the estate of the late rapper MF Doom.

The two lawsuits make many similar arguments against Temu, with the most recent complaint describing the China-based retailer as “one of the most unethical companies operating in today’s global marketplace. Its business practices are believed to pose great threats to individuals, marketplaces, and the environment.”

It goes on to cite a recent complaint made by the state of Nebraska, which alleges that Temu has “flooded the United States with cheap products,” that its app “operates as malware” that “unlawfully exfiltrate[s]” sensitive user data that then “naturally flows to its powerful patron — the Chinese Communist Party.”

It also cites a congressional committee’s investigation into the possibility that some of the goods available on Temu were made with forced labor, and a lawsuit brought by the attorney general of Arkansas that alleges the platform is “‘a data-theft business’ masquerading as an online store, run by ‘a cadre of former Chinese Communist Party officials’ that are looking to improperly install malware and spyware on the devices of US citizens.”

“Temu is widely understood to be one of the most unethical companies operating in today’s global marketplace. Its business practices are believed to pose great threats to individuals, marketplaces, and the environment.”

Legal complaint against Temu by Twenty One Pilots

Temu, like Amazon and other online retailers, intermediates in the sale of goods from third-party sellers, but the Twenty One Pilots lawsuit argues that the amount of control that Temu exercises over who sells what on its platform in effect makes the platform itself the seller.

“Temu is known to exercise ironclad control over what products are sold on its platform, how much they are sold for, and how they are manufactured. Meaning Temu essentially functions as ‘a vertically integrated manufacturer and retailer,’ making it even more ‘vulnerable to claims that it sells pirated products,’” states the complaint, which can be read in full here.

The complaint cites eight claims against Temu, including trademark infringement under federal law, violation of California’s right of publicity laws, which protect individuals’ image and likeness from misuse, and “false endorsement.”

“Temu has falsely used artwork reflecting plaintiff’s name and signature on apparel, prints, and other products, creating the false impression that the plaintiff endorses Temu,” the complaint alleges.

The lawsuit seeks damages from Temu, including punitive damages “in an amount sufficient to deter Temu from their wrongful conduct,” as well as disgorgement of profits made from the allegedly counterfeit goods, and a court order forcing Temu to remove the infringing products from its online store and advertising.

With merch becoming an increasingly important revenue driver for artists, lawsuits over counterfeit goods have begun to accumulate.

Most recently, Benson Boone‘s merchandise partner filed a lawsuit last month over allegedly counterfeit goods sold outside Boone’s concerts.

In 2023, Harry Styles launched a wide-ranging lawsuit targeting sales of knock-off products, and in 2022, Nirvana sued around 200 online sellers for selling counterfeit goods on platforms like Amazon and Etsy.

In certain circumstances, these types of lawsuits have proven to be a headache for the suing artist. One notable example is Luke Combs, who successfully sued around 200 online sellers of counterfeit goods. One of them turned out to be a fan who sold 18 tumblers featuring Combs’ likeness via Amazon, making $380 in the process, and was ordered to pay $250,000.

Combs ended up apologizing and absolving the fan of the money owed to him.Music Business Worldwide

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